Gambia

Key Developments

» Radio station forced to drop news; no independent broadcaster remains.

» Whereabouts of reporter detained by government remain a mystery.

Years of brutal repression by President Yahya Jammeh’s administration have gutted Gambia’s
once-vibrant independent press and driven
numerous journalists into exile. In August, the government forced Taranga FM, the last independent radio station airing news in local languages,
to halt its coverage. The move came ahead of an
October presidential election in which Jammeh faced no viable opponent and brooked no dissent. Official repression has taken many forms over the years, including arbitrary arrests, censorship, forced closures of media outlets, verbal and physical intimidation, arson
attacks, and prosecutions under
restrictive legislation. These actions, coupled with
impunity in attacks on media
houses and journalists, have reduced the
domestic news media to a handful of newspapers that
operate under intense fear and
self-censorship. While marketing the country
internationally as an idyllic
tourism destination, the government ignored two
rulings by a West African human rights court: one ordering the release of reporter “Chief” Ebrima Manneh, who disappeared in state custody after his 2006 arrest, and another compelling the government to
pay compensation to a journalist for illegal detention and torture.

Violence and intimidation have driven many of the Gambia's best journalists out of the
country. Despite its small size, Gambia is 13th worst
among all nations worldwide in the number of journalists who have fled into exile, according to CPJ research.

Journalists in Exile, 2001-2011:

79Ethiopia68Somalia66Iran55Iraq49Zimbabwe47Eritrea25Sri Lanka

25Cuba20Colombia18Haiti18Rwanda18Uzbekistan17Gambia

Manneh disappeared in government custody after he was arrested in his newsroom by agents of
the National Intelligence Agency. Despite
eyewitness accounts of Manneh’s arrest and subsequent sightings of the journalist in custody, Gambian officials have
consistently denied having any knowledge of his
whereabouts. That changed in October 2011, however, when Justice Minister Edward Gomez said Manneh was alive. He offered no details.

Timeline in Manneh case:July 7, 2006: Picked up by
National Intelligence Agency agents at the offices of
the Daily Observer.December 2006: Journalist Yahya Dampha spotted Manneh in custody in Fatoto police station.July 25, 2007: Manneh was seen under guard at a
hospital, being treated for high blood pressure.June 5, 2008: Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States ordered Manneh’s release and directed the government to pay damages to his family.
April 6, 2009: In an address to the National Assembly, Attorney General Marie Saine Firdaus denied Manneh
was in custody.April 22, 2009: Six U.S. senators called on Gambia to release Manneh.September 2009: U.N. Human Rights Council’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention called for the immediate release of
Manneh. March 16, 2011: Jammeh publicly suggested knowledge of Manneh’s fate with an
unprecedented reference to his death: “The
government has nothing to do with the death of Chief Manneh.”October 6, 2011: Justice Minister Gomez
declared that Manneh is alive.

With words of contempt and intimidation, Jammeh periodically threatened the media, chilling
journalists into fear and self-censorship,
according to CPJ research and news reports.

Jammeh’s hostile words:September 2006: “The whole world can go to hell. If I want to
ban any newspaper, I will.”July 2009: “Any journalist who
thinks that he or she can write whatever he or
she wants and go free is making a big mistake. If anybody is caught, he will be severely dealt with.”
September 2009:
“I will kill you, and nothing will come out
of it. We are not going to condone people posing as human rights defenders to the detriment of the country.” March 2011: “If I have
to close any newspaper because you have
violated the laws, I will close it. ... I will not billahi wallahi, sacrifice the interests, the peace and stability and
well-being of the Gambian people at the altar
of freedom of expression, or freedom of press, or freedom of movement, or freedom of whatever.”

Impunity in anti-press attacks has been complete over the past decade. No arrests or
convictions have been made for arson attacks on media
houses, the murder of a prominent journalist, and the shooting death of another.

The administration has silenced numerous independent news sources over the years, imposing
temporary or permanent bans. Outlets that were
allowed to resume operation often eliminated news coverage or began exerting intense self-censorship.